Esterhuizen and Williams

Must have surely played themselves into our best match day 23

My starting side would be:

15. Willie

14. Kolbe

13. Am

12. de Allende

11. Arendse

10. Pollard

9. Faf

1. Kitshoff

2. Marx

3. Malherbe

4. Etzebeth

5. RG Snyman

6. Kolisi

7. PSDT

8. Wiese

16. Mbonambi

17. Ox

18. Thomas du Toit

19. Lood

20. Kwagga

21. Williams

22. Willemse

23. Esterhuizen

Arendse has leapfrogged Mapimpi and Roos has not rediscovered his pre injury form, so while I prefer his all round skill to that of Wiese I’d go with Wiese’s brute strength for now

These are good picks. I'm always worried that Kolbe and Arendse might be a little bit too small having both in the back 3. Moodie did okay on Saturday, but he dropped a few catches which should have been regulation for him. So that rules him out. Arendse did tackle that much, only had two tackle attempts and missed one of those. 

I would drop De Allende Completely and get Grant and Am as my starting centre combo. 

Dud and Kriel are not the best. Both are very good at defence and strong runner but don't have the hands or ability to kick smart. 

Williams have definitely impressed me and have probably knocked Jantjies out of the squad all together. Especially that he can cover wing as well. 

Agree on Wiese over Roos. Roos haven't been able to break the line like he did last season and make those big runs. Wiese is not as quick but can definitely bash over the line. 

I had another look at Duane play on Saturday and he definitely still got it. He seems stronger in contact than Roos but lacks Roos Pace. 

Right now Roos is closer to Pierre Spies. Got speed by not the physicality you want from your 8. 

Kak man de Allende was great last year and is vital for the Boks

Made three different sources world side of the year last year

You don’t drop the best 12 in the game - that’s just plain stupidity

Kolbe and Arendse punch way above their waits and have never let us down defensively. Besides Mapimpi is hardly a defensive star so no issue with Arendse replacing him.

I thought Moodie was very good - he is a natural, has the ability to glide into space. Definitely going to have a long test career

Would like to see him muscle up and become an option at 13

Trouble with those picks is a combination of Faf , Pollard and Dud Allende  will put us right back to the bankrupt rugby we played for the last 3 years. That combination needs to be changed. The best candidate is Esterhozen, distribution vs contract. If we are going to play Arendse and Kolbe there is zero point to having Dud Allende crashing into brick walls, 

So it’s Faf, Pollard and Esterhozen to start with Williams coming on as the moment dictates.

By the way, anything Dud Allende can do, Esterhozen can do better.

Few question marks for a side to play wee abs. 

Van Stadem could be given a chance.

Is R G Snyman ready

Is Am ready.

Does Vermuelen deserve to be dropped. 

Libok of course at fly half. 

Apparently Willemse is going to play at 10 which will be a big mistake 

Nope Faf, Pollard and de Allende are our best

Williams will push for sure and Esterhuizen is a great back up to de Allende

I’d be happy with v Staaden starting ahead of Kwagga at 6

RG is definitely ready and Am is a must - that pass to Arendse sums his class up

Vermeulen was solid but offers very little these days - Wiese and Roos are better

Faf, Pollard and Dud Allende as individuals are one thing….as a combination they destroy our creativity.

This is a stale combination [Faf, Pollard and Dud Allende]

If Faf is kicking too much, then I want Williams starting. However, the ideal scenario would be a Faff in top form, with Williams an impact player. 

After being impressed with Hendrikse, but he has been more of a linking scrumhalf than one that also attacks around the fringes to keep the defence guessing. 

Esterhuizen is finally delivering to his full potential at international level. He is a big unit, but he can also pass off both sides. 
Delande is very good on his day, but Esterhuizen seems to be naturally more of a playmaker .

Esterhuizen had his best test for the Boks because the Bok game has evolved.

Esterhuizen was allowed to express himself. In his previous tests Esterhuizen played it direct like DA did as that was the instruction

The Boks game plan evolved on the EOYT.

My guess is that DA will be more creative given the evolution. Same will apply to Faf

By all accounts it will be Faf, Willemse and DA hopefully continuing with the attacking mindset. With Willemse at 10 it will always be attacking

Delande can pass and play expansively, but Esterhuizen was better for the Sharks and now the Harlequins.

He was a big loss for the Sharks when he left- and he now seems better 

The quick pass out wide to Arendse was just one of many things AE did on Saturday that we rate as being standard for any Bok back but which had DDA done we'd have been singing his praises.

DDA used to be creative. Then he drank his own hype-aid and now believes he's a truck.

To me, one of Libbok's biggest assets is his hand speed and how fast his passes travel though the air. A short windup and probably the fastest ball I've seen in recent memory. It buy's valuable milliseconds. The precision of his passing is also some of the best I've seen.

DDA negates this while AE compounds the advantage with good decision making.

I like Pollard but our forwards seem to always get us front foot ball. And when that is the case, Libbok's snappy distribution skills stretch out the advantage...so Libbok kinda gets my vote. I've always said we need backs that pay dividends for the forward's dominance.

You have forwards granting us advantage, Libbok expands on it with snappy and precise distribution and AE makes the best choices with all the advantage he is given.

Put DDA at the end of that and all it amounts to is crab runs, zero offloads and wasted overlaps.

Once the Libbok/AE axis is settled...I think the results will speak for themselves.

"To me, one of Libbok's biggest assets is his hand speed and how fast his passes travel though the air. A short windup and probably the fastest ball I've seen in recent memory. It buy's valuable milliseconds. The precision of his passing is also some of the best I've seen."

I haven't seen much Super Rugby this year, but I've seen similar passes from DMac in the few Chiefs games I watched .

Libbok and Esterhuizen is a breath of fresh air for the Bok back line….hard to comprehend they would swop back to DDA and Willemse @ 10?? …DDA is a strong player but creative is not 1 of his strong suit’s….isn’t team announcement today? Williams is a exiting player and should get more game time.